All magic in the world has but one source – kourass. Kourass is the primal energy that wells up from the depths of the earth in great pools and flows under its surface in mighty rivers. The Elves call it Æssence, or Earth Blood, and they believe that it is the vital force that drives all of the cycles in nature and gives life to all things. As the great magus Gwynior'alias stated, “Æssence is the mother of all things, and all things are moved by her.”

When Æssence rises from the core of the earth it forms large ‘bubbles’ (Enris Sokal: glomeramen), not unlike the pockets of air that are formed when boiling water. These bubbles of magical energy rise very slowly toward the surface and as its upper edge touches the crust it forms a Node (Enris Sokal: vissaculus).

Nodes begin as tiny motes of pure magical energy, but soon begin to expand as more and more of the bubble begins to crest. Eventually they reach a maximum radius and then begin to shrink until they in effect disappear. Normally this process is measured in millennia, but small glomeramines(pl) have been known to complete their cycle within a few hundred years.

As a Node breaches the surface its magical energies begin to boil off forming what is known as Lesser Æssence currents, or simply the Flows. This secondary liberated kourass becomes quite mobile and flows quickly along the surface of the earth in the form of ley lines. Ley Lines are akin to great rivers of quickly moving magic flowing from Node to Node, connecting them in a complex, geometric pattern. Occasionally there is a great surge of Æssence in a node. When this happens the Ley lines radiating from that Node become engorged with magical energy and may jump (ES: salire) or spill (ES: effundere). When a line jumps (ES: salirates) it literally moves it’s end point to another, usually nearby, Node. The effect can be quite spectacular as the area that had the Ley line running through it is suddenly deprived of magic, and the new path of the line is suddenly inundated by it. Spilling (ES: effunderation) is when the engorged line maintains its Nodal orientation (point to point) but the width of the line grows dramatically.

Typically both saliration and effunderation are very local events, and usually contained within one Node. Rarely a more severe event happens in which multiple connected Nodes are excited (ES: trepidated) at once. Such events almost always lead to Flow Storms. Flow Storms are wild and unpredictable events where magic is hemorrhaged out of the Ley line system and into the surrounding environment. The physical manifestations of such a violent release of magic energies vary, but are always spectacular. Usually they take the form of an inordinately violent storm replete with random elemental discharges. It has also been noted that when closely linked Nodes are trepidated there is an extreme weakening in the dimensional barriers, often facilitating the entry of trans-dimensional beings.

Æssence in its raw form is far too dangerous for spell casters to manipulate, so they have instead learned how to tap into the omni-present background magic (Terenian: mana , ES: vis tegmen) that fills the space between the Lines. Mana grows stronger the nearer on draws to either a Ley Line or a Node, and many conceptualize it as the magical spray that comes off of the Æssence (much like spray from the ocean, or swift river). Many mages have attempted to directly tap a Ley Line or Node but none have walked away unscathed. Those that do manage to actually survive the direct exposure to raw Æssence with out Burnout are invariably consumed with the Lusting and driven mad.

Magic is an incredibly powerful and capricious force, so much so that over the millennia many spell cast traditions have arose in an effort to harness it. The current modality conceptualizes spellcasting around the means of absorption giving three realms of magic – Essence, Mentalism, and Channeling.

Essence users tap most directly into the flows of essence and their spells tend to reflect this. Powerful, primal effects are the norm, making the manifestation of Essence magic hard to hide. Additionally, the shaping of essence spells requires a great deal of freedom of movement, as well as direct (skin) contact with the flows. Any amount of metal greatly interferes with spell casting. Even moderate amounts of organic material (leather, fabric) can affect spell resolution, leaving essence casters with few armor options.

Through years of intense training, Mentailsts learn how to guide ambient essence energy through the corridors of their mind, shaping it into spells through mental constructs and force of will, and as a result mentalism tends to be the subtlest of the three realms of magic. Because the mentalism is centered around the mind, they suffer no penalties for wearing armor or carrying metal on their bodies, but become almost completely incapacitated by helms.

Channelers make up the third, and final spell casting tradition. Whereas in both essence and mentalism it is the spell caster who is absorbing the raw magical energy for spell casting, channelers are given their magical power from an extraplanar being (typically a god). By virtue of their nature, deities inherently absorb some of the residual magical energy from their followers. They store this energy within themselves, aspecting it with their own unique energies. Through rituals and supplication, a deity can be convinced to invest a minute amount of its energy into a follower. This process magically ties the two together, allowing the deity to send mana to its devotee – filling it much like one would fill a vessel with water.

Spellcasting Modifiers

Condition

Essence

Channeling

Mentalism

Hands

No Free Hand

-3

-2

+0

1 free Hand

+0

+0

+0

2 free Hands

+2

+1

+0

Voice

None

-1

-2

+0

Whisper

+0

-1

+0

Normal

+0

+1

+0

Shout

+1

+2

+0

Helmet

None

+0

+0

+0

Leather

-2

+0

-3

Partial Metal

-3

-1

-4

Full Metal

-4

-2

-6

Armor

Heavy Cloth

+0

+0

+0

Soft Leather

-2

+0

+0

Rigid Leather

-5

+0

+0

Chain

-7

-6

+0

Plate

-9

-7

+0

Other Equipment

Organic

Per 10lbs

-1

+0

+0

Metallic

Per 5lbs

-2

-1/2

+0

Casting Time and Active points
The standard casting time for any spell is one Full phase. Optionally a mage can choose to spend more time preparing their spell (getting a +2 to their roll for every full phase spent casting) or less time (taking a -2 to cast as a half phase action, and a -4 to cast as a zero phase action).